After she placed sixth at the Beijing Olympic Games that year, she said in a now-deleted social media post that she was “finally done with her goals” in the sport after more than a decade full of “a lot of good and a lot of bad.”
She told the Oaklandside that she was burned out and no longer found joy in skating when she quit. But in 2024, she told the publication, she was reminded of her love for the sport after a skiing trip and decided to return to the ice — and the Oakland Ice Center, where she’s again trained over the last two years.
While she was in Milan, the rink hosted viewing parties for her events and praised her winnings on social media.
“We are so proud to share the ice with you,” a social media post said last week from the Oakland Ice Center and Oakland Skates Ice Hockey, a semi-pro team that uses the rink.
BART also gave her a shoutout after that performance, congratulating the “BART rider and Oakland legend.” The post clips a news article about Liu, which said she often took the public transit system to get from the East Bay to San Francisco for training.
Commenters on Bluesky were quick to point out her connection, too, to San Francisco’s public transit system: When Muni’s L-Taraval train relaunched after five years of renovations in September 2024, Liu recorded a bilingual message in Mandarin and English for returning riders.
“From welcoming riders on the L-Taraval to standing atop the Olympic podium … Huge congratulations to the Bay Area’s own Alysa Liu,” the San Francisco Municipal Transit Agency wrote, joining the bandwagon.
Oakland-raised football star Marshawn Lynch also sent encouragement to Liu.
“Go out there and win some gold, bring that sh-t back to the Town man,” Lynch, who played multiple seasons with the Oakland Raiders, said in a video posted to social media. “Town business, show them what you’re talking about.”
Last Thursday, after her free skate performance launched her to the top of the singles competition leaderboard, Liu returned the love.
“Oakland shoutout,” she said as she skated toward the cameras, beaming.
